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Fight Fire With Fire; James/OFC, Het, 1999
Topic Started: February 17, 2013, 12:58 pm (18,415 Views)
-DJ-
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Blackened
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Hey dudes. Got all my assignments done and I couldn't sleep last night so I came up with this. Let's see where this one goes :)


I was sitting at a table in a room backstage with Kirk’s black Les Paul in front of me, polishing the fretboard before putting a new set of strings on it for tonight’s performance. I had big headphones on and punk was blasting in my ears. All the guys were busy doing interviews for various magazines and television because tonight was big. No one expected Metallica to perform with an orchestra. I stopped polishing and threw the rag over my shoulder and ripped open a packet of strings with my teeth and started to string up the guitar. The other guitar techs moaned about doing this every night but I found it kinda…soothing. I loved my job.

The door of the room burst open and the handle hit off the wall. James walked in unapologetically and sat in the corner of the room and started writing on a piece of paper.

“Fuck” I gasped in fright and dropped the string winder that was in my hand onto the ground. I stared him down trying to get an apology from him but I failed.

I could feel him looking at me while he was writing but I ignored it and kept turning the machine head on the guitar and turned up the volume on my CD player. I took out the pliers and started to cut off the excess strings from the headstock. I set the guitar on a stand to tune up later and left to get some food in the catering area.

“Hey!” James called me. I turned around and looked at him. “Who are you?”

“Are you serious?” I answered him with a question and put my hands on my hips.

“Yeah”

“I’ve worked for Kirk for two years and been at every show and festival you guys have done in that time and you still don’t know who I am?”

“No need to be such a bitch about it I was just asking” he threw the pen on the table.

I shook my head and left the room to get food before I exploded. I went to the area where food was laid out in the arena. I took a paper plate and piled on whatever was laid out and sat at the table.

“Hey, Ruth!” Kirk sat beside me. “Got my guitars done?”

“Just one left to do then I gotta tune ‘em. Should only take around twenty minutes. Have you had sound check yet?”

“It’s in twenty minutes”

“Alright. I’ll go get your guitars done then”

“No finish your food”

“The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can chill” I sighed at got up from the table and walked back to the room where James was.

When I sat back down to tune Kirk’s guitars, James was still in the room and had Thin Lizzy blaring from the stereo.

“Can you turn that down?” I asked politely as I could but he kept singing along to Jailbreak. “HEY!” I pressed the stop button on the stereo.

“You have no right to do that!” he snapped at me.

“I have to tune these guitars and I can’t with you making all this noise!” I pointed my finger in his face. “I suggest you get your ass to sound check too”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?!”

I wasn’t in the mood of arguing with the biggest ego in the band so I wheeled the guitars into another, quieter room and got to work in there.

It usually took a lot for me to get mad but James pissed me off big time tonight. He never talked to me once while I worked for Kirk and the first time he does, he called me a bitch. Anytime I saw him he’d always act like I didn’t exist. He always flirted with any other female member of staff but he ignored me every single time. It’s not like I cared that much but it’s common courtesy to say ‘hi’ or at least acknowledge someone’s existence when they work for you. Lars and Jason did. I thanked god I wasn’t his guitar tech. Kirk always treated me with respect because I was good at my job.

I stopped thinking about what happened and wheeled the tour case of tuned and freshly stringed guitars out to the stage.

“Thanks, Ruth” Kirk smiled. “You gonna stick around after the show? We’re going to a bar after”

“I dunno. I’m kinda tired. I might just head straight home”

“Alright. I’ll see you later”

I laid backstage on a long tour case watching everyone rush past, trying to organize everything and find people. I closed my eyes and turned on my CD player and drifted away. I was lip syncing along with the lyrics in the song when it skipped. I took my headphones off and James was standing over me.

“Go away I have a headache” I told him.

“You’re slacking” he said in a monotone.

“I’ve done everything I need to do. Now. Go. Away.”

He laughed as he walked away from me in his black shirt and pants. If he thought this was some sort of game, he was wrong. I wasn’t one to be fucked with. This was not over yet.
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Sol
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Frantic
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This was a great start!

I love Ruth character already! :)
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Verde Manzanita
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I have no feelings in my soul, where most have passion I got a hole
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Hohoho, another one and I already like Ruth.
Keep on writing, you are very talented.
:heart:
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Broken, Beat & Scarred
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Interesting start! :) I would be willing to bet that James knows exactly who she is, though he might claim otherwise.

Hope you update soon!
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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Glad you like it girls :heart:


I stood by the side of the stage and waited to hand Kirk the guitars he’d need throughout the course of the set. The whole thing seemed to go down well; the crowd loved the mix of classical music and metal. Every song was arranged in an awesome way.

When it was over, instead of Kirk handing me back his guitar after the last song like he normally would, he walked straight back into the dressing room with it. A place I really didn’t want to go but I had to. I knocked on the door but I wasn’t heard due to the laughter coming from inside. I took a chance and walked in on the guys getting changed.

“Hey um…can I get that guitar off you, Kirk?” I stared at the ground, not wanting to give them any ideas.

“Oh, yeah sure. You comin’ out to the bar?” he handed me his guitar.

“Sure why not” I smiled.

I turned to leave the room when I felt something landing on my head. I put the guitar down and took James’ sweaty black shirt off my head and the whole room went silent.

“You’re a fuckin’ dick, Hetfield” I shouted and I heard him snigger from the corner.

I left the dressing room, packed up all of Kirk’s gear and locked his cases for the roadies to move later on. I drove to the bar and waited for the guys to arrive. I sat in a corner with a glass of beer and rested my boots on a chair opposite me. I leaned back against the soft leather and thought about how I’d have to deal with James coming to the bar.

“Ruth! What’s happening with you and Hetfield?” Mike, a roadie, sat beside me.

“What are you talking about?”

“He said you’re his wardrobe girl or something”

“Did he now…” I sighed and took a long sip of my beer to try let it go. His fucking wardrobe girl.
In his dreams.

“Yeah, he’s telling everyone”

I went to get another drink around an hour after the guys arrived at the bar. I ordered another drink and James appeared by my side but I ignored him as much as I could.

“Why are you a guitar tech? Girls can’t play guitar” he stated as if he knew that for a fact. I’d expect him to say something like that if he was drunk but he wasn’t; just nicely oiled.

“I never said I played guitar” I snapped at him like he did with me earlier.

“It was just a joke. Lighten up…Jesus…”

“Have any more questions before I leave?”

“Yeah I do actually; what happened your hair? Did you have an accident with a razor or something?” he referred to my sidecut haircut where one side of my hair was shaved.

“Why does it bother you so much?” I asked as I paid the bartender.

“It doesn’t” he shrugged and gulped his drink. “Does one side of your head get colder quicker than the other?” he laughed at his own joke.

“Wow you’re hilarious…”

I grabbed my beer and walked back to my table where I was sitting. I put my headphones on and attempted to avoid seeing anyone else. For a grown man, he was one of the most immature people I had ever met. God only knows why he had women falling on their knees for him every night. I didn’t see the attraction at all.

“Ruth!”

“Oh hey” Kirk slid in to sit beside me with a glass of red wine.

“Being kinda anti-social aren’t you?”

“Just tired, Kirk”

“Well you gotta do it all again tomorrow!”

“I’ll be there don’t worry! Hey I have a question for you; is James a dick to everyone or is it just
me?”

“I wouldn’t say he’s a dick, James is just…James” he laughed “Why what happened? Is it about the shirt thing?”

“That and the fact he only started talking to me today but since then he’s taken every single opportunity he had to annoy me. I haven’t even done anything to him!”

“You did turn his music down though…”

“Don’t stick up for him!” I elbowed his arm. “And technically that was for you because I had to tune your guitars and how was I supposed to do that with Phil Lynott telling me there was going to be a Jailbreak?!” I exhaled deeply and tried to calm myself down. “I don’t know, maybe I’m over thinking this”

I finished off the last of my beer and put my CD player into my bag.

“I’m gonna go, Kirk. Same time tomorrow?”

“Sure thing” he smiled and high-fived me.

I walked towards the door of the bar and James bumped into me coming back inside.

“You shouldn’t be driving drunk” he smirked.

“Do I look fucking drunk to you?”

“Maybe not but you curse like a sailor” he put his arm across the doorframe, stopping me from leaving.

“Hey why don’t you do us both a favor and go back to ignoring me like you have for the past two years?”

“Ouuuch. Kitty got claws!” he quipped.

“Get out of my way” the only move he made was cocking his head to the side to look me up and down. “I swear to god, if you don’t get out of my way—“

“What? What are you gonna do?” he got right in my face.

I leaned back and crossed my arms then brought my boot up between his legs.

“FUCK! You are…oh fuck!” he grabbed his crotch and winced in pain against the wall. The veins in his neck engorged as he gritted his teeth.

“Next time I tell you to move I suggest you do it and by the way, I’m not your wardrobe girl either”

I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt up and walked to my car.
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Verde Manzanita
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I have no feelings in my soul, where most have passion I got a hole
[ * ]
For being that sexy (1999, S&M era, when James was TEH SEX) he's behaving like a real dick with Ruth. I guess that kick was utterly deserved. :lol: :heart:
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Shayniz21
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Poor Twisted Me
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This is fucking awesome! Ruth is so cool! Can't wait for more!
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HellHathNoFury
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Poor Twisted Me
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MMM 1999 James. One of my favorite James eras...

Anyway... he's such a dick lol. I'm glad she's tough :D. Just what he needs.
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myparanoid
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I'm loving the story and Ruth :heart:
Please more :heart: :heart:
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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When I got home I slammed the door in anger letting my dad know I was back. Even though I earned good money working for the guys, I still lived with my dad. At 26 it was kind of pathetic but he was my best friend in a way.

“Hey honey”

“Hey dad” I said getting a beer from the fridge and sitting at the kitchen table. “Going to work?”

“Yeah. How was the concert?”

“It was good”

“Your face says otherwise”

“Rough day I guess”

“Tell me what’s up” he sat opposite at the table.

“You know James in the band, right?”

“The cocky singer guy?”

“Exactly. Well before tonight he had never spoken to me before but he got in the way while I
was working tonight and he’s been on my case since!”

“I don’t know what to say hun. Just try not let it get to you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t stay up
too late!” he joked and left for work.

--

I got to the venue the next day for the last S&M show. I brought all Kirk’s guitars into the same room as yesterday and started to take all of their strings off. I was on my own most of the time so I was happy with that. I figured since no one else was in the room and it had a stereo, I could use that to listen to my music instead of my CD player. I put The Clash’s first album on and got to work quicker than ever. White Riot was soon turned off when James walked into the room and made his presence known. He smashed the stop button and took out the CD and threw it on the table I was sitting at. I gave him a questionable look as to what he just did.

“No punk”

I refrained from saying anything back to him. The last thing I needed was my ass fired.

“Can you pass me that wire cutters beside you?” he slid it along the floor with a force and it slammed against my boot.

“You got something to say to me?” he said through gritted teeth.

“Like what?” I said continuing to work on the guitar at hand.

“Sorry for kicking me in the nuts”

“Not when you deserved it”

“That’s how it is huh…” he stormed out of the room like a moody teenager.

I didn’t see James for the rest of the day and I was totally okay with that. In fact, my day got a
lot better without him around; I got more work done without him in my way and he wasn’t hovering around me when I wasn’t working either.

After the show was over, I was wheeling a case down a narrow corridor and saw James coming towards me carrying a guitar. He diverted all eye contact with me and stared at the ceiling. I turned a little to let him get by because I knew he wouldn’t and I felt something graze my left forearm when he finally passed me.

“Ow! Watch where you’re going!” I shouted out to him and he turned his head dismissively like I was overreacting but did a double take when he looked at my arm.

“Holy fuck! You’re bleeding really badly!” I looked down at my arm and there was six inch gash that was pumping blood.

“Come in here” he put his guitar on the ground and dragged me into the closest bathroom.

He washed it out at the tap as best he could and took his shirt off and tied it at my elbow.

“Fuck it’s not stopping. We’re going to have to go to the hospital”

“No!” I protested.

“Look, this needs stitches and proper care. I’m not being held responsible for your arm falling off!” he yelled at me.

He put on another shirt and told someone where we were going and ran out to his truck.

“Keep pressure on that and try not to bleed all over my seats”

“Man I feel funny” I laughed feeling light headed and dizzy.

“Dammit c’mon!” he beeped the horn at the car in front of us in the heavy traffic.

When we got to the hospital and a nurse saw the state my arm was in and I was seen to immediately. A doctor washed out my cut with something orange that stung really bad then gave me an anesthetic shot. She stitched up the wound and dressed it then told me to come back in two weeks to get my stitches out. I went back out to James when I was done who was reading a magazine. He stood up when he saw me.

“How many stitches did you get?” he asked me shoving his hands in his pockets. His hair was still messy from the show…and he stank.

“16”

“Wow…listen I’m sorry about all of this. I’ll pay for whatever it costs”

“I have insurance so don’t worry about it. But I suggest you teach your guitar tech how to cut strings properly so they don’t stick out and cut people” I spoke to him as I filled out the hospital
paperwork.

“Noted. C’mon I better give you a ride home” I gave the sheet back to the nurse at reception.

“How are you feeling?” he asked breaking the silence between us on the way home and smoothed out his hair with his hand.

“Better”

“Good”

We pulled up outside my house and James looked at it in disbelief.

“Why is there a cop car outside your house?”

“My dad’s a sheriff”

“Oh…you live with your dad?”

“Yeah”

“Why?” he laughed almost condescendingly.

“Reasons” I replied getting out of the truck.

He walked me to the door and I realized I left all of my stuff at the venue including my keys. I went to ring the doorbell but James’ hand slapped mine away.

“Your dad’s not gonna kick my ass is he?” he said sheepishly.

“Only one way to find out”

My dad opened the door with a smile that quickly turned into a look of horror when he saw my arm. James expression changed too when he saw my dad. He was your typical donut-eating police officer with a moustache and a big belly. For a change, James was the little guy.

“What happened?!”

“Sir I can explain --” James put his hand up and I stepped in beside my dad.

“Shut up James. I cut my arm by accident and had to get stitches. It’s no big deal. Really. James took me to the hospital so you should be thanking him”

“Well uh…thanks for taking care of her, son” he shook James’ hand.

“My pleasure. See you soon, Ruth. I’ll drop your stuff by tomorrow” he waved good night and walked down the path and my dad shut the front door.

“Thought you said he was an ass?”

“He is”
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CarpeDiemBaby
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// Sunglasses indoors.
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I'm so freaking blind that I hadn't noticed this fic lol
I'm liking it a lot. James being such a bastard with Ruth, but you know, the most hate-love relationships are the best. :P
Keep writing! :heart:
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Verde Manzanita
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I have no feelings in my soul, where most have passion I got a hole
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Oh, Jaime scared of a big-bellied sheriff! :lol:

I loved it, keep on it! :heart:
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HellHathNoFury
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Poor Twisted Me
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Good thing Ruth didn't tell him it was James' fault... He'd have gotten his ass beat!
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Shayniz21
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Poor Twisted Me
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James is just too fucking cute in this!
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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A heavy banging on the front door woke me up at 2.30pm. I tried to ignore it and hope they’d go away but they persisted. I got up and ran down the stairs in my tank top and pajama bottoms to answer the door.

“What the fuck! Oh…it’s you…” James stood on the porch wearing all black and holding my stuff that I left at the venue the night before. I didn't think he was serious when he said he'd drop it off last night.

“Yeah. Were you in bed?” he stood in front of me asking the world’s most obvious question.

“What do you think?” I walked away from the door and went to the kitchen to get food. “You coming in or are you just going to stand there?” I shouted out to him.

He followed me into the kitchen where I poured out a bowl of Lucky Charms that spilled out over the edge and onto the counter.

“Why were you asleep so late?”

“Because it’s my day off and thou shalt not waketh before noon y’know. Also, a trip to the hospital wore me out too” I poured some orange juice into a glass. “Why are you up so early? It’s your day off too”

“I couldn’t go back asleep I guess. I spoke to Kirk. He said you can take as much time as you need off”

“That’s cool but I’ll be at the next show”

I took the glass and bowl and went to the living room and sat in front of the tv. He followed me again like a puppy dog and sat at the other end of the couch. I turned on the tv from the remote and concentrated on a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond.

“How’s your arm?”

“It’s okay. I can’t really feel anything to be honest”

“Maybe that’s a good thing then”

“Probably” I said with a mouth full of food. I caught sight of my hair in the spoon and it was a mess. “Stop staring at me” I could see him staring at me out of the side of my eye.

“I’m not—“

“You are!”

“Alright sorry…not really a morning person are you? Or afternoon in your case”

“You wouldn’t be either if someone woke you up trying to punch a hole in your door”

“Can I ask you a question?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay…?”

“Are you…y’know…gay?” he asked me quietly playing with his hands.

“Do I look gay?”

“Well I just thought y’know with your hair…I mean, it’s okay if you are…it won’t bother me or anything but I was just curious”

“No, I’m not gay. I’ve had my hair like this since I was 15 because I wanted to stand out in high school. Are YOU gay?”

“NO!” he frowned as if I was questioning his masculinity.

“Calm down. Jesus, I was just curious. Why are you so interested in my hair anyway?”

“I’m not…”

I got up and put my bowl in the sink and he followed me again.

“You want a beer?”

“Sure”

I took a bottle of beer out of the fridge and handed it to him with a bottle opener.

“Your dad working today?”

“Yep”

“What are you doing today?”

“Today? Nothing. I’m going to a friend’s gig in LA tonight though”

“Oh…cool”

“What about you? You not got someone else to annoy on your day off?” he laughed nervously.

“Suppose not. Do you want me to leave?”

“No, no. Shit I didn’t mean it like that”

I sat back on the couch and again, he followed me with his beer.

“So who does your hair?”

I laughed before I answered.

“Oh man. You’re really no good with small talk are you?” he shrugged and smiled at me. “I do it myself. I dye and trim the short side every two weeks”

“You’ll have no hair left by the time you’re my age. Did you hear about that woman who dyed her hair so much the dye went through to her brain and gave her brain damage?”

“Shut up that’s a lie!” I kicked his leg.

“I swear I’m telling the truth! Might make you think twice about doing it again” he nodded taking a sip of his beer.

“Whatever, Hetfield…”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Sure why not”

“Can I come with you to the gig later?”

“I dunno, James…I mean, you might cramp my style” I was only joking but I wanted to see his reaction.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he said defensively.

“Well it’s gonna be full of punks and you’re not exactly punk material”

“So make me punk then” he said in an almost challenging way as if he was too metal that I couldn’t.

“Why do you wanna come with me so bad anyway?”

“I dunno…I guess you’re not as big of a bitch as I thought you were”

I shook my head and ignored his remark. I took the beer bottle out of his hand and put it on the coffee table.

“Follow me” like he had to be told…

I grabbed my keys and opened up the garage door and pulled a chair into the middle.

“Sit down there” I told him.

“What are you doing?”

I took out my razor and put an attachment on it so it wouldn’t make his hair too short. I plugged it in and waited until I was next to him before I turned it on.

“Whoa what the hell are you doing?!” he jumped up off the chair hearing the buzzing of the blade.

“You said to make you more punk didn’t you?”

“Yeah but—“

“Sit your ass down, James. I’ve given more people mohawks and haircuts than you’ve had hot dinners. Don’t you trust me?”

He sighed and sat back down.

“Don’t move okay?”

I started with the back of his head and watched his light brown locks fall away and land on his shoulders. I turned the razor off and went to get a bigger attachment to do the top.

“You finished?”

“Nope stay still”

I combed his hair and finished off the top so it was spiky. I brushed off his neck with a towel to get rid of the tiny hairs.

“Am I punk yet?” I walked around and looked at his new haircut.

“Umm…no. Something’s still missing. Wait here and don’t look at it yet”

I ran upstairs to the bathroom to get some hair dye I had left over from last week and a pair of gloves. When I got back to the garage, he was running his hands through his shorter hair.

“What have you done to me?!”

“Shut up you asked me to do this!”

I shook the bottle of dye and poured some into my hand. I wasn’t paying much attention to where I was putting it on his head. With his hair being darker than mine, the blonde dye wouldn’t come out quite as bright. Mine was close to white at this stage. I massaged it into his hair and I heard him sigh as if he was enjoying it.

“Alright leave that in your hair for twenty five minutes. I’m going to have a shower and change then I’ll rinse that out for you. Don’t touch it by the way”

I went upstairs to shower and thought about how different James was acting around me compared to the past few days. He was being…nice. And let me do as I pleased to his hair. I changed into a fresh tank top, jeans and my Doc Marten boots. I blow dried my hair and brought it round my right shoulder. I called James from the bathroom.

“Okay lean over the bath”

He got on his knees and I washed the dye from his hair with the shower nozzle. Even though it was still wet, I could already see it was much brighter. I shampooed it and rinsed it again. He dried it himself with a towel and we both stood looking in the small mirror at his new do.

“Like it?”

“Yeah it’s pretty cool, thanks” he patted me on the back.

“Awesome. You ready to go then?”

“I can come?” his eyes widened in surprise.

“Well someone needs to drive”
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